Incondite
by MademoiselleSummertime
Summary: Like Coke and Mentos. Echo is a mean little itch who has come to poke around the lives of the prodigy-child duo, how bad can it get when you tamper with a flesh-and-bone curse?    MelloxOC/MattxsameOC
1. Dulcorate

It was that one instant of recognition that Mello treasured, he held on to it and held it to his chest every now and then when he felt insignificant. Mello didn't have any close friends back then, he was lonely and angry and only existed in order to become the best, to finally climb to the top and step all over Near's ugly white head. And that made him even angrier.

It was that one time that he decided to wear a hoodie and read his textbook outside that it all started. A couple of boys only a year or so older than him approached and smiled "hey you, our friend over there thinks you're pretty"

"Well tell him to shove it" Mello had a big mouth for an eight-year old.

"What the- hey! It's a boy! You said a _boy_ was pretty! Haha!" Both boys yelled back at their friend making fun of the situation

"Can you stop? I'm trying to read"

"Oh, sorry Sally, didn't mean to bother you sugar" One of them mocked. The other one laughed and pointed, Mello didn't know which one of the two bothered him the most, so he decided both of them deserved being punished for daring to bother him at all. He punched a jaw and then kicked someone's stomach, moved back and waited for a response until he got one, then he punched a nose and pushed a body to the ground, torturing it into submission by twisting it's arm. And if it weren't for Roger, he would've ripped the goddamn limb off.

"Mello! What are you thinking! Get up boy, to my office" Mello complied but took a second to look back at his masterpiece and smiled as he heard the boy wail in pain.

Once in the office Roger sat him down and lectured him on appropriate behaviour, he suggested Mello should have a couple sessions with the Wammy psychiatrist and scheduled him for next Tuesday. Mello simply remained quiet.

Beyond Birthday had tried to avoid detention by claiming he had a headache and asked for permission to visit the nurse. He slid in, got into one of the beds and closed the curtains around him so he wouldn't be bothered. It was only a couple of minutes into his mid-day nap that the piercing sunlight hit his eyes as the curtain was ripped open by one of the nurses.

"Oh! The nerve! Beyond, get up at once! How many times have I told you, Roger wouldn't allow for you to rest here while the _sick_ kids" she motioned to the blonde next to her as she emphasized 'sick' "are in need for care. Come on! Up up up!"

Beyond stood up lazily. The kid looked perfectly healthy to him but he wasn't in the mood for arguing. "I'm very sorry Clarissa, you see, I haven't been able to sleep much lately, I've been having nightmares again. I wish I could tell you all about them, they give me fever at night. I think I'm horribly sick"

"Oh you are sick all right. Next time you feel ill you know to come here" She tucked the younger kid in bed and closed the curtain "there's nothing like a soaked cool drape for a fever" she opened a jar and shook out a couple of pills "maybe it could be that horrid diet of yours, boy, protein and carbohydrates, that's what you need!" she split open the curtain yet again and fed the boy the pills and a small glass of water.

Beyond smiled and sat in a big, white armchair that stood away from the sunlight "Do you mind if I rest here for a while?"

"As long as you're not puling another one of your mischievous little evasions and hiding from punishment again"

"No, no. I've been good"

"Fair enough, I'll be away for a few, we're running out of band-aids. Darn kids turn more violent each day" And with that she was gone.

"So… you're sick" BB asked with a sly tint to his tone "I remember you, you gave that one kid the beating of his life" He peek inside as found the boy looking up at him with wide, attentive eyes. "That was fun to watch. What's your name?"

"Mello"

"Mello… I'm Beyond Birthday"

"I know. Everyone knows"

BB smiled at this and turned to the sugar jar that rested on the nurse's desk. He opened the lid and dumped some into his mouth, chewed on it and swallowed with a satisfied expression. "You're third down the list, you must be smart"

"Not smarter than Near"

"Near? That's the kid with the fainting spells. His _sucre _levels drop instantly at times and he gets pale… well, pale-_er_ and Clarissa rushes with a big jar of sugar and gives him three spoonfuls" BB gulped down another mouthful from the jar. "You don't need Clarissa's sugar, Mello, you're _better_" Mello watched the words roll from the boy's lips and couldn't believe his ears "You're my new pet".

"Pet?"

"Yes, loyal, willing and dangerous, like a pit-bull or a crocodile"

"Crocodile" Mello whispered to himself. He liked the idea, getting to hang around the coolest kid the house, getting praised for fighting and hearing how much Near Sucked (yes, with a capital 'S') out of someone else's mouth. He nodded "Okay"

"Kay, it's settled then, get up, we have places to be"

"But, I can't"

"What… too 'sick'?"

"No, I can't let Roger see me. I have an appointment with Dr. Something"

"Psychiatrist? Cool guy, he'll give you candy if you admit to having issues. Been there done that. Now let's go, don't worry about Roger"

BB walked out the door and Mello followed glowing with joy, he might as well be waging his tail and chewing a biscuit.


	2. Oikology

That night, when Mello heard the window rise and the young boy creep out, he worked up the courage to peek out the window.  
"Hey, B"

"Mello… hi"

"Where are you going"

"You can't say a word to anyone okay?" the boy requested and continued climbing his way to the ground

"Can I come?" He finally let out. B looked up at him and smirked

"At your own risk"

Mello smiled, changed his pyjama jeans for outerwear pants and put on his sneakers as fast as he could. He climbed down just like BB had, only faster: like a little hyperactive mouse. The seven-year-old walked closely behind the teen.

They crossed the railway and headed to a nearby bundle of houses. Mello had seen the identical rooftops from his window before, but he had never ventured to visit the area. He looked around. The houses were lined up in an organized pattern. They had minor differences, but they pretty much looked the same: white, gray roofs, white fences protecting green yards.

Mello was about to ask where they were heading to but he received and answer before he could speak. Ahead, there was a house unlike the others. The owner had brushed it over with a light pink coat of paint, surrounded it with bushes of tiny white roses splattered around like snowfall. Beyond walked up to the front and rang the doorbell.

Mello stood besides him as the smell of freshly baked vanilla filled his nostrils. Who the hell baked at one in the morning?

"B! Hi! Come in. Who's the little one?"

"Mello, my pet, brought him over for you to pamper him" BB his hand on the blonde's shoulder and gave him a slight shove towards the girl. She looked older than B, but was still a child. Her dark blonde hair was twisted into a single braid that fell towards the front over her shoulder. "I'm Creusa, would you like a cookie?"

Mello smiled for her (something he rarely did) "sure"

Creusa handed him a shallow basket, which held a pile of tan cookies with a rose drawn on each with chocolate. "Why don't you go ahead and take to the table, I'll get us something to drink".

Mello walked forward into the next room, which instead of being separated by a solid wall, a white entanglement of metal strands twisted into a complex pattern stood in between instead. There were vines decorating the peculiar formation from which the same little white roses grew. Mello walk through a rectangular gap in the formation and found himself in a white room, with a shinny white floor that reflected the light coming from a golden chandelier in the centre. The once white ceiling had been decorated with light pink roses growing from a green, intertwined, stem that grew infinitely all over the space. There was a mirror, a wooden set of drawers and a big, white, round table in the middle of it all, the kind you find in gardens: also made of metal, as if to match the wall Mello had just walked through.

The kid put the basket of cookies on the table and was soon joined in the room by Creusa and Beyond Birthday, who brought along plates and little golden-rimmed tea cups with their corresponding pot filled with warm milk.

"Go ahead and pour the milk, I'll go get the little one" Creusa said and walked out through one of the four openings available. BB went ahead and poured four cups of milk. "Pretty isn't she?" he said breaking the silence.

Mello didn't know weather he should answer "yeah, and nice"

BB smirked "you can't tell anyone about this okay? Not even Matt. No one"

"I know, I promise" the boy replied nodding his head. B smirked.

"Here, sweetie, sit down" both boys looked at Creusa and then to the girl walking in, the second shot a glare at B when she saw him, blinked, and turned her burning stare to the smaller boy.

"I brought a friend with me, this is Mello" BB announced dismissing the girl's hateful welcome

"Good afternoon, I'm Echo" she introduced herself and took a seat ("afternoon?"). They ate the cookies as Mello and BB sat quietly, listening to the girls talk, and nodded their heads or commented every now and then. It was around two thirty in the morning when BB and Creusa excused themselves from the table and headed upstairs.

"I have to run some errands, come with?" the little girl offered

"Isn't it too early? Will anything be open at this time?"

"Off course, silly, why wouldn't they be open?"

"because they're sleeping" Mello stated the obvious

"Sleeping? It's way to early for that. Come on, stop talking nonsense"

Mello was annoyed by the girl's confident yet preposterous answer but he kept quiet. They walked through the empty, cold streets, exited the housing area and reached a small grocery shop

"Here, help me find these" she handed Mello a paper, which read:

_Comb dums_

_Bird feed_

_Pepper_

_Blue Zig rhettes_

_Mayonnaise _

Mello stared at the list with disbelief, at his tender age he knew what cigarettes where, BB used them a lot, but what the hell were 'comb dums?'. He settled for the pepper and the mayonnaise while the girl looked for the other items.

"Joel, where could I find the comb dums?" Callie asked the young man behind the counter. He yawned and pointed at a stand of items parallel to the cashier. Callie bit her lip as she noticed realized how many types of 'comb dums' there were to choose from. "Oh look! Grape flavoured! Creusa would like these, I hope"

She set the items on the counter and got on her tippy toes and reached for a blue box of 'zig rhettes'. She pulled out some money from the little pocket of her dress and paid. The man gave her a hand-written receipt and said goodbye to both children.

"what's your name?"

"Oh right! How rude, I'm sorry"

"…"

"what?"

"Your… name"

"Right… Echo"

Mello rolled his eyes and decided to keep quiet the rest of the way back.

Every once in a while, Mello would hear BB climbing out of his window and he would ask if he could join him. BB always said yes. There came a time when the formalities where dropped and BB knocked on Mello's window to let him know he was leaving the younger kid would automatically hop out of bed (already dressed) put on his shoes and follow BB down to the rose-scented house. Once there, they would eat treats and talk, then Kalika and Beyond would go upstairs and Calista and Mello would stay on the first floor and watch television, talk, play board games and if it wasn't too cold outside they'd go to the swings.

"You look tired"

"….eh?"

"You tired lately. Are you okay?"

"Yeah… what time is it?"

"Three"

"Matt?"

"hm?"

"I need some sleep"

"I'll wake you up if he calls on you" Matt whispered back and retuned his attention to the teacher.

"You must really love him" Echo stated

"love him? No! gross"

"But you talk about him all the time, he must really matter to you. You don't care much for anyone do you?"

"Well… Matt is different, he doesn't bother me"

"Do I bother you?"

"No... well… sometimes" Mello admitted reluctantly

"What bothers you about me?" a slight frown appeared on her lips and (coincidently!) words scrambled in Mello's brain and (accidentally!) honesty started spurting out.

"I just, I don't know you… It makes me feel uncomfortable. I don't even know… why I come here"

"I know you come here because you like it, it's normal for an orphaned child to seek a home" Echo set down the necklace she was putting together at the moment and looked at Mello straight in the eye "what is there to know about me anyways? You've already memorized all my chess strategies"

"Where you come from, who you are, what made you this way…"

"This way? What way?"

"Don't expect me to tell you exactly what I asked you to tell me"

Echo laughed, "Oh wow… I sometimes forget you're a prodigy child, Mello"

Mello smiled at her "I'm ashamed I even have to remind you"… he didn't even try to hide his cockiness. Echo returned to her necklace shaking her head. It was a string of tiny golden beads, in the centre she had attached a blue ceramic rose, she was working on the lock.

"Where did you get this?" she asked and pointed at the rosary that hung from Mello's neck.

"My mum gave it to me, I've had it my whole life"

"It's very beautiful. You're from the west, eh?"

"well, kind of" he replied looking away in thought

"You're so beautiful, you should let my sister draw you some day"

Mello had to admit that being called beautiful wasn't something that happened to him every day, and even though he didn't mean to, he blushed ever so slightly. Echo finally finished the necklace: she put it in a small wooden box on top of a tall pile of earrings, bracelets and other necklaces.

"What are those for?"

"My sister is going to the city tomorrow, she'll sell them there. You can price them higher in the city because people have more to spend, I usually make more than she asks me to just so she can choose what to take"

"How long have you been making these?"

"Not long, it's a new idea. We change what we sell every now and then, it gets boring to make the same things over and over again. We baked, we made dresses, we made soap, now we're making jewellery" Echo looked up at the staircase from the white kitchen counter

Creusa was coming down the stair followed by B "Come on Mello, time to get back"

Mello obediently stood up and made his way to B's side, he received a kiss on the head from Creusa and then turned to say goodbye to Echo

"Here, take this" the little girl took a small string of onyx-coloured beads and tied it around Mello's wrist "it's supposed to help your mood"

"Thank you, but it really isn't necess-"

"Don't be silly. By the way, take some cake and share it with Matt for me, yes? Goodnight!"

The door closed.

"Mello, don't be stupid" Beyond almost whispered as he started to walk back.

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

"Matt, I'll let you into a secret, but you can't tell" Mello was impossibly nervous about what he was about to do… would it 'be stupid'?

"Come one Mells, would I ever tell on you?" Matt gave him a crooked smile and looked back at the television screen he had been hypnotized by

"I've been going to this place, two girl live there, one of them is B's girl, her name is Creusa, the other one is her younger sister Echo" He was talking fast and robotically

"Wow… never considered you the brothel type"

"It's not a fucking brothel! God, Matt"

Matt chuckled "'Kay, cool off, go on"

"Fine, so they live in this place and it's like… a garden but inside a house, I've only seen the first floor though, but they bake all the time and they make jewellery"

"Sounds… boring"

"It's not! You'll see for yourself"

"I will?"

"Yeah, they sent you cake" Mello took the pastry from the nightstand and gave it to his friend. Matt looked at it and after some thought bit into it. His expression said it all: he couldn't believe the heavy scent of chocolate that remained even after the cake had been sitting for at least a couple of hours. He was done with the whole thing in no time and was licking his fingers, seeking to consume the last bit of delight.

"See? You have to come"

"When?"

"I don't know, I'll wake you up"


	3. Mammon Mammon

"You look tired"

"….eh?"

"You tired lately. Are you okay?"

"Yeah… what time is it?"

"Three"

"Matt?"

"hm?"

"I need some sleep"

"I'll wake you up if he calls on you" Matt whispered back and retuned his attention to the teacher.

"You must really love him" Echo stated

"love him? No! gross"

"But you talk about him all the time, he must really matter to you. You don't care much for anyone do you?"

"Well… Matt is different, he doesn't bother me"

"Do I bother you?"

"No... well… sometimes" Mello admitted reluctantly

"What bothers you?"

"I just, I don't know you… It makes me feel uncomfortable. I don't even know… why I come here"

"I know you come here because you like it, it's normal for a boy to seek a home" Echo set down the necklace she was putting together at the moment and looked at Mello straight in the eye "what is there to know about me?"

"Where you come from, who you are, what made you this way…"

"This way? What way?"

"Don't expect me to tell you exactly what I asked you to tell me"

Echo laughed, "Oh wow… I sometimes forget you're a prodigy child, Mello"

Mello smiled at her "I'm ashamed I even have to remind you". Echo returned to her necklace. It was a string of tiny golden beads, in the centre she had attached a blue ceramic rose, she was working on tying the rose to the rest.

"Where did you get this?" she asked and pointed at the rosary that hung from Mello's neck.

"My mother gave it to me, I've had it my whole life"

"It's very beautiful. You're western European eh?"

"well, kind of" he replied looking away in thought

"You're so beautiful, you should let my sister draw you some day"

Mello had to admit that being called beautiful wasn't something that happened to him every day, and even though he didn't mean to, he blushed ever so slightly. Echo finally finished the necklace: she put it in a small wooden box on top of a tall pile of earrings, bracelets and other necklaces.

"What are those for?"

"My sister is going to the city tomorrow, she'll sell them there. You can price them higher in the city because people have more to spend, I usually make more than she asks me to just so she can choose what to take"

"How long have you been making these?"

"Not long, it's a new idea. We change what we sell every now and then; it gets boring to make the same things over and over again. We baked, we made dresses, we made soap, now we're making jewellery" Echo looked up at the staircase from the white kitchen counter

Creusa was coming down the stair followed by B "Come on Mello, time to get some sleep"

Mello obediently stood up and made his way to B's side, he received a kiss on the head from Creusa and then turned to say goodbye to Echo

"Here, take this" the little girl took a small string of onyx-coloured beads and tied it around Mello's wrist "it's supposed to help you concentrate"

"Thank you, but it really isn't necess-"

"Don't be silly, goodnight!"

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

"Good morning Mello, how have you been?" The bearded offered the kid a seat on the black leather couch and adjusted his glasses on his nose"

"Okay, a little bit stressed over the upcoming exams but I guess it's normal"

"Hm… why do the exams bother you Mello? What worries you?"

The 'worries' question were the easiest to deviate, BB had taught him well"

"I keep having this dream" the doctor shifted in his seat and looked straight at him with his full attention: bingo " everything is very dark and the only thing I see is my mother's face, I can't ever remember what she looks like in my dream but I'm sure it was her"

Exactly an hour of therapist afterwards Mello had played his cards well and after a shy "maybe I try to fill the void in me with study books" he had received a fine, sweet, spherical lollipop. Life was good.

He hadn't seen Echo in weeks since examination period had started but tonight he would climb out the window once again. The blond walked at a steady place to the library and started searching from his idol from in-between the isles "B! there you are… what is that?"

The older boy was writing a letter, there were two leafs of paper filled front and back already set next to him and he was working on the fifth page as he spoke "Nothing, just a letter… don't you think it's weird? This is the first letter I've eve written"

"Hm… well now that I come to think of it, I've never written a letter either"

"Here" B pushed a leaf of paper towards his pet and handed him a blue-inked pen

"Who do I write it to?"

"I don't know… anybody, really. Just write down things you've always wanted to say to someone but never could make out" Beyond was looking strange… a little dreamy. Mello took the pen in his hand and started writing.

His letter wasn't as long; it barely covered one side of the page so he finished by drawing a miniature comic strip in chicken scratch and stick-man figures with arrows indentifying each character. Even though it was somewhat pathetic, he was pleased and couldn't wait to deliver his masterpiece.

That night Mello climbed out professionally and waited at the bottom for B, who apparently had some trouble getting through Roger's hawk eye but once the teenager made it outside they both rushed across the railroad. When Mello walked inside the house he noticed things were different… it was completely empty. The walls had been painted white, the décor had been removed, there wasn't a single piece of furniture neither upstairs nor downstairs, it even smelled different: like concrete and wood.

"What's going on?"

"We're moving" sad Echo from behind as an astounded Mello searched for the remains of what once had been a garden of roses

"Why?" He asked keeping his glare straight ahead

"It's time we moved places, we're going to Japan" Echo took Mello's little boy hand in her little girl grip "Have you heard of Kira?"

"Yes… off course I have. It's all over the news; even L is working on the case! And when I'm old enough, I will help him destroy that bastard!" Mello's yelled at her and snatched his hand away

"Don't be mad, I'll miss you a lot. I'll write to you, I promise"

"No, don't write to me... I don't want to hear from you, stupid"

"Hey! Don't call me stupid!"

"Why Kira?"

"Just imagine Jesus himself landed in Russia... would you go to Russia?"

"...yes"

"I'll write to you Mello"


End file.
